This invention relates to the shipping and displaying of bulky items such as cookware. In particular, the invention relates to a combined transporting and merchandising display device for frying pans.
The need for a shipping container which can also be used as a display has been brought about by the popularity of "warehouse" retail establishments and "outlet" stores. Such retail establishments do little shelving of products, and thereby save on labor related to handling merchandise. Instead, the merchandise is offered for sale directly from the containers in which they are shipped. Frequently, such merchandise will remain on pallets in a warehouse-type environment. Customers are allowed to roam the warehouse to select merchandise from the shipping/display containers. The cost saving which arises from the elimination of shelving labor is passed on, at least in part, to the customer.
Cookware having non-stick surfaces (such as those bearing the brand names Silverstone and Teflon) presents particular problems in designing shipping/display packaging. Non-stick surfaces, in many cases, are relatively easily scratched. Therefore, items having such surfaces must be well supported and separated. At the same time, it is important to present the items to the purchasing public in a visually attractive, yet economical, way.
Frying pans, because of their elongated, rigid handles, present a somewhat awkward shape for the purposes of shipment and display. The handle makes stacking difficult, and the large amount of packaging material required to protect both the handle and the non-stick surface can be costly. Therefore, designing a package which is fully protective of the handle and cooking surfaces which utilizes a minimum of packaging material, while displaying a major portion of the shipped products in an attractive way, is a significant challenge.
One example of a combined shipping and display system in use today is disclosed U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,450 issued Jun. 26, 1990 to Paul. In this arrangement, a package for shipping and displaying cookware includes a pair of substantially identical molded expanded foam trays, each having a plurality of pockets shaped to complementarily engage opposite edges of a frying pan. Each of the trays has two rows of pockets separated by a sloping surface against which handles of pans in one row can rest. One of the trays acts as a base, and the other tray acts as a cover, with the two rows of pans sandwiched therebetween. Each base/cover combination can be banded to form an invertible unit, the units being shaped so that several units can be carried by a pallet to facilitate handling by a forklift. The palletized units can be opened quickly and easily, by customers if necessary, and are immediately ready for use as a display.
Notwithstanding this previous successful design, it remains desirable to provide an improved pan packaging and display system of a modified type from that shown in the aforementioned prior art which is effective to protect and support different types of cookware, is cost effective to manufacture and use, and which continues to present the cookware to the purchasing public in a visually attractive way. It is also highly desirable that such pan packaging and display system offer a limited deformability which will enhance the stability of the pans during transport and display. It is also desirable that the pan packaging and display system of the present invention is completely recyclable and environmentally acceptable.